Santa to Occupy San Francisco Bars Saturday

Annual Santacon bar crawl returns this weekend.

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If Santa looks a bit tipsy this weekend around the City, give him a pass.

A red tide of velvet suits is expected to sweep across the City Saturday as hundreds of holiday revelers don Claus-themed costumes in an all-day bar crawl honoring the most jolly of them all.

SantaCon is coming to town.

The annual national event, which involves people dressing up in Santa, elf and other North Pole-related costumes and taking to the streets, began in San Francisco in 1994.

The event largely caters to adults of legal drinking age, although some SantaCons in other cities encourage families and dogs -- in appropriate attire -- to join in the wassailing.

Participants tend to spread out in all directions across the city, from the Castro District to Fisherman's Wharf, and are loosely guided by a list of suggested bars postedon sanfranciscosantarchy.wordpress.com.

That unofficial page also lists several meeting points where participants can first convene with other Claus enthusiasts, including the main San Francisco kickoff at Civic Center at 12:30 p.m.

Although the partying technically is not constrained by time, evening after-parties are scheduled at DNA Lounge, Public Works and Retox.

Organizers said that a free SantaCon dance party will also take place at Monarch, located at 101 Sixth St., from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Updates on plans for the party can also be found at the San Francisco Bay Area Santarchy Twitter page at twitter.com/sfsanta.